We publish an annual statement of accounts to give electors, local taxpayers, councillors and other interested parties clear information about our finances.
- Draft Statement of Accounts 2022/23 [PDF, 1.5MB]
- Draft Annual Governance Statement 2022/23 [PDF, 0.5MB]
- Inspection of the accounts: Public notice [PDF, 68Kb]
The statement summarises:
- the cost of services provided by us in the year
- how services were paid for
- our assets and liabilities at the end of the financial year
The external audit of the draft statement of accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 has not yet been completed by our external auditors, EY LLP, due to the complex set of factors contributing to audit delays across the sector. This situation is allowed for by Regulation 10, paragraph (2a) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015.
In accordance with the provisions set out in paragraph (2a) of the aforementioned regulations the Council wishes to confirm that it is not yet able to publish its audited 2022/23 final statement of accounts in line with the statutory deadline of 30 September 2023, as per paragraph (1) of the same regulations.
The Civic Affairs Committee will meet to consider the results of the 2022/23 audit once the external auditors have completed their work. The accounts will be published after the Civic Affairs Committee has considered the external auditor's findings and approved the accounts for publication.
Previous statements
- Statement of Accounts 2021/22 [PDF, 2MB]
- Statement of Accounts 2020/21 [PDF, 2MB]
- Statement of Accounts 2019/20 [PDF, 7MB]
- Statement of Accounts 2018/19 [PDF, 1.5MB]
- Statement of Accounts 2017/18 [PDF, 1.5MB]
- Statement of Accounts 2016/17 [PDF, 1.5MB]
Closure of audits in respect of previous years
Regulation 16 of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 requires that, following the conclusion of the external audit of the Council’s financial statements, the Council must publish a statement on its website confirming the audit has been concluded.
The Council can confirm that the Council’s external auditors have concluded their audit of the Council’s financial statements up to and including the financial statements pertaining to the 2020/21 financial year.
An unqualified opinion was provided in respect of 2021/22 statement of accounts on 30 November 2022. However, the external auditor has not yet been able to issue their audit certificate in respect of the 2021/22 financial year.
This is because the external auditor has not yet completed the work necessary to issue an assurance statement in respect of the Council’s Whole of Government Accounts consolidation pack.
Regulation 16(1) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 states that a local government elector for any area to which the accounts relates may inspect and make copies of the audited Statement of Accounts, the local auditor’s opinion on the Statement of Accounts and the local auditor’s certificate.
The audited statement of accounts, which includes the local auditor’s opinion, can be downloaded by following the links above.
The auditor’s certificate forms part of the published audit opinion for the financial years 2016/17 – 2019/20 and can be obtained by downloading the relevant published audited financial statements.
In the case of the 2020/21 financial year the audit certificate can be obtained by following the link below.
If local electors wish to inspect hard copies of the aforementioned documents or request a hard copy on payment of a reasonable fee the necessary arrangements can be made by contacting us in the first instance.
